FSR March 2023

SmartChainDigitalSignage

Mood Media

working a table. “Let’s say a customer orders a sandwich, side, and beverage. Using AI, the digital menu board can pres ent an amazing banana crème milkshake on the display, and your customer now adds that to their check as an impulse purchase,” says Theresa Hannen, market ing manager at LSI Industries . Impulse items like sweets and snacks have always performed well as upsell opportunities at the point of sale, of course. They’re also the best candidates for digital signage campaigns throughout the store, according to David Vance, vice pres ident of quick-service restaurant sales at Mood Media . “One of the most common mis takes I see out there today is campaign ing around a common product or pric ing,” Vance says. “For example, if a cheese burger is a core product and a known entity to one’s consumer base, the digital signage campaign around it usually falls flat or becomes ‘static.’ Most walk into a quick-service restaurant establishment

knowing what they are going to purchase, so the key is to hone in on the impulse and secondary purchases. Baked goods, add-ons, sweets, and caffeinated drinks not only play well on a screen but also are high-margin products for the operator.” Digital signage platforms suggest add on menu items reliably and consistently, given the right direction and the right integrations. “Digital systems never fail to upsell and cross-sell if set up properly and integrated with the POS,” Kurtz says. “Also, it is much easier to 86 items from a menu with digital signs—and it looks a lot better than having items crossed out or covered with tape.” Of course, even the best signage strat egy can’t make up for confusing or just plain inaccurate messaging. Information on displays should be correct and sim ple to read and digest. “At the bare mini mum, customers expect digital signage to be accurate,” says Jay Leedy, senior man ager of business development at Sony Electronics . “Don’t promote what you

can’t offer, and incentive what you have a lot of. In the drive thru, order confir mation screens on digital signage have grown to become expected. Customers are also expecting to understand at a glance what deals are being promoted and new additions to the menu.” Upsells and cross-sells mean noth ing, however, when a customer opens a meal container to find the wrong order. Restaurants can significantly reduce order inaccuracy in the drive thru by implementing order confirmation screens. “A limitation of most drive-thru jour neys is order inaccuracy,” says Chloé Bisiaux, director of products at Acrelec . “Customers frequently use the lobby rather than the drive thru because they are more confident that their order will be correct when ordered inside. A digi tal signage solution offers increased order accuracy by displaying POS data in real time. Customers can see exactly what is selected on the digital menuboard. Any modifications or substitutions made to

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